workers' compensation; death benefits; remarriage

More survivor support for first responder families

Arizona pays more than $5,000 for burial costs after a worker’s death, in addition to survivor compensation. Funeral costs for a dependent who dies before an award ends are also more than $800. For a qualifying first responder’s death, the spouse receives 66⅔% of the worker’s average monthly wage when there are no children, or 35% when children survive; the children share another 31⅔%. Children generally qualify until age 18, until age 22 while enrolled full-time at an accredited school, or longer if they are over 18 and unable to support themselves. When a first responder leaves no spouse, eligible children share 66⅔%; benefits generally end at age 18, but can last to 22 for full-time students or longer while a child over 18 cannot support themselves. A spouse whose benefits stopped because of remarriage on or after January 1, 2000 can receive them again starting when the law took effect, but gets no past payments; qualifying first responder spouses do not lose benefits just because they remarry. When no spouse or child under 18 survives, dependent relatives may receive 25% of the worker’s average monthly wage, with added shares for certain dependent parents; partial-dependent benefits are based on the worker’s contribution and cannot last more than 100 months.